Scars: Scars Saga 1

Persephone

Chapter 21: Persephone

When the creation was new and all the stars shone in their first
splendor, the gods held their assembly in the sky and sang
'Oh, the picture of perfection! the joy unalloyed!'

-Lost Star by Rabindranath Tagore

I was giddy with excitement, and jittery with anticipation. It was Friday, and James, Sirius, and I were going to London. That alone was not enough to make me so excited, but the simple fact that Remus was going to meet us there was more enough. I had owled him immediately following my hot chocolate. His response was quick and simple: Yes.

I was also slightly nervous because it would be the first time apparating outside of Hogwarts. The three of us stood in the center of the parlor. I was muttering the Three D's to myself while Sirius was laughing at me.

"I don't want to get splinched; is that so wrong?"

Sirius just laughed harder. "Last one there buys ice-cream!" And in a blink he was gone.

James and I quickly looked at each other, before we both took a step and disaperated. Immediately it felt like my whole body was being forced into a very thin, very long, and very twisty pipe. I was being pushed, pulled, and stretched in all directions. It's a good thing we all decided to bypass breakfast so as to meet sooner. I don't think I would have kept my breakfast otherwise.

We landed in a discreet alley just outside of the Leaky Cauldron; Sirius was nowhere in sight. We took off sprinting for the Cauldron doors. I was right on James' heels, ready to surpass him, when he suddenly fired a leg-locking curse at me. Fortunately his aim was off and he missed. Still, the moment I took to try and dodge his spell cost me; I fell behind.

I ran through the doors a few steps behind James. Sirius was already inside, leaning back in a chair with his hands behind his head. Lily was there too. James threw his hand on the table a mere second before I did.

"What took you so long?" Sirius asked lazily.

"You cheated," I said between breaths. "You both did."

"Me? What did I do?" Sirius asked.

"Don't play coy with me. You left before we agreed to race. And you..." I turned to James. "You tried to hit me a leg-lock."

"What? Me? No. There was a bug on your shoulder; I was trying to knock it off for you."

"A bug? On my shoulder? That you saw while you were ahead of me?"

"Ah-hah! So you admit that I was ahead of you."

"Oh you little..."

"Hi, Kate!" Lily said loudly, stepping up beside me.

"Hi, Lily," I replied after a short pause.

"As entertaining as it would be to see you face off with James, how about we go splash some water on your face to cool you down? Hmm?"

My attention was diverted for a moment as another, older, wizard entered the Cauldron. I didn't recognize him, but he seemed to look at me a little strangely.

"Yeah...sure"

James settled in at the table with Sirius while Lily and I made our way to the girl's lavatory.